You are invited to plan a Colorado vacation around the Lincoln Highway Association Conference!

The 15th annual conference of the Lincoln Highway Association will be held in Colorado in June, 2007. The conference dates are Monday, June 18 through Friday, June 22. The conference is jointly sponsored by the Nebraska and Wyoming chapters, the two end points of the Colorado Loop of the Lincoln Highway. The conference is being organized by Colorado members of the LHA.

The City

The conference will be held in Fort Morgan, a Lincoln Highway town about 80 miles northeast of Denver. Fort Morgan is a delightful and progressive high plains agricultural and manufacturing community — a community of about 11,000 residents which maintains the charm of a small town.

Lodging Headquarters

Lodging headquarters for the conference will be a complex comprised of a Comfort Inn, a Rodeway Inn, and Maverick’s Restaurant. All bus tours will operate out of this complex. Tour registration will include three breakfasts, two lunches, three evening meals, and three coffee breaks. Breakfasts preceding the two bus tours will take place at Maverick’s. Other national brand motels including Days Inn, Super 8 and Best Western also have properties in Fort Morgan. Several small local motels are also available.

Conference Venue

The main conference venue will be at the beautiful and well maintained Fort Morgan High School. Famed band leader Glenn Miller graduated from the Fort Morgan High School in 1921. All presentations and the annual meeting of the Association will take place at this location. The book room will also be located here.

The Colorado Loop

The Colorado Loop was the result of fierce and acrimonious political battles between the Lincoln Highway Association and Colorado politicians. The LHA finally acquiesced and included the Colorado Loop as an alternate route between Big Springs, Nebraska and Cheyenne, Wyoming. That agreement from the LHA only lasted eighteen months at which time official sanction of the Colorado Loop was withdrawn in March, 1915. Then, not wanting to be left out, Colorado politicians and businessmen, primarily Greeley businessmen, organized the Northeastern Colorado Lincoln Highway Association. The route was modified to run through Greeley. The resulting circuitous route remained on maps until the late 1920’s.

Bus Tours

The east bus tour will enter the Colorado Loop at Big Springs, NE at the site of the billboard which encouraged drivers to take the route through Colorado. The west bus tour will travel portions of the nonsanctioned route through Greeley and will return to the sanctioned route west of Greeley. Traveling the sanctioned route, the tour will continue to Cheyenne where the Loop rejoins the main route of the Lincoln Highway.

Special Events

The Marsh Rainbow Arch bridge was widely used on the Lincoln Highway. Beautifully restored a few years ago, Fort Morgan’s eleven span Marsh bridge will be the site of a catered breakfast on the last morning of the Conference — breakfast on the bridge!

The Valley Drive In Theater will host a barbeque supper and movie exclusively for Conference participants. The theater is located right on the Colorado Loop of the Lincoln Highway.

No Charge Optional Tours

Two wonderful optional tour opportunities will be available to conference participants at no charge.

Wyoming’s and Lincoln Highway’s Randy Wagner, will be leading a pre-conference auto tour beginning at the highest point on the Lincoln Highway between Cheyenne and Laramie. The tour will begin at 8:30 AM on Sunday, June 17 (please note the earlier time than stated in the downloadable brochure). Wyoming’s historical Lincoln Highway east to the Nebraska border will be covered. The tour will enter Colorado and return to Fort Morgan Sunday evening. The tour will travel through the Pawnee National Grasslands and will traverse much of the country made famous by James Michener in his epic novel, Centennial.

A post conference auto tour will leave Fort Morgan early Friday afternoon following the Association’s annual meeting. This tour will be led by Colorado’s road and trail book author Lee Whiteley. After leaving Fort Morgan in its westward routing, the Colorado Loop entered the high plains dry land farm country which exists southwest of Fort Morgan. Much of this route remains desolate to this day. The route is easily passable with modern automobiles, albeit a bit dusty. This tour will conclude at the eastern outskirts of metropolitan Denver.